Text 8. Legal Aspects of Marketing

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN) system of organizations. The "Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization" was signed at Stockholm in 1967 and entered into force in 1970. However, the origins of WIPO go back to 1883 and 1886, with the adoption of the Paris Convention and the Berne Convention respectively. Both of these conventions provided for the establishment of international secretariats, and both were placed under the supervision of the Swiss Federal Government.

The World Intellectual Property Organization gives the following definitions:

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images and designs used in commerce. Intellectual property is divided into two categories:

1) Industrial property includes patents, which give the exclusive right to make, use and sell an invention in a given geographical area; trademarks (words or symbols that differentiate a company); and industrial designs. A granted patent gives patent protection for 20 years in the UK. After that time you must renew the patent. In order to trademark or register your trademark, you will need to complete a registration process.

2) Copyright protects literary and artistic works. Copyright protected work includes novels, plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, photographs, and architectural designs. Copyright protected work is said to be subject to copyright.

Note: The copyright symbol: ©

The trademark symbol: ™

The registered trademark symbol: ®

The mission of WIPO is to promote through international cooperation the creation, dissemination, use and protection of works of the human mind for the economic, cultural and social progress of all mankind. Its effect is to contribute to a balance between the stimulation of creativity worldwide, by sufficiently protecting the moral and material interests of creators on the one hand, and providing access to the socio-economic and cultural benefits of such creativity worldwide on the other.

WIPO's cooperation for development program is closely interwoven with governmental and intergovernmental cooperation, including WIPO's agreement with the World Trade Organization (WTO), whereby WIPO assists developing countries in the implementation of WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

Legal problems may arise if another person has used copyright protected work without the copyright owner's (or holder's) permission. The UK Patent Office says:

Intellectual property (IP) crimes include counterfeiting and piracy. Counterfeiting is deliberate or willful trademark infringement and piracy is willful copyright infringement. Infringement means reproducing copyrighted work without permission from the IP owner.

If a trademark or copyright holder believes that another person has made unauthorized use of a trademark or copyright, then this may lead to a lawsuit, where one company takes another to court to enforce the trademark or copyright. The infringer, the person who has broken the copyright, may have to pay damages or compensation to the trademark holder, normally financial.

Most company websites include a page called terms and conditions or copyright information. Visitors to the site must agree to the terms and conditions. The terms and conditions usually contain what a visitor may download or take from the web page and post or upload to the web page, and a disclaimer to say the company is not legally responsible for the misuse of its web pages.

One of the most significant present-day tasks of WIPO is to demystify intellectual property, so that it is recognized as a part of everyday life not only by those directly involved in it at governmental, legal, industrial and cultural levels, but also by any others who compose civil society, whether in non-governmental organizations or small businesses, whether farmers, public health personnel, individual creators or simply interested members of the general public. Realizing the importance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is the backbone of market economies.

Some critics of intellectual property, such as those in the free culture movement, characterize it as intellectual protectionism or intellectual monopoly and argue that the public interest is harmed by protectionist legislation such as copyright extension, software patents and business method patents. Although the term is in wide use, some critics reject the term intellectual property.

The Consumer Protection Act is a law that protects the consumer from faulty or defective products, or products that are not as safe as they are generally expected to be. Consumers are legally entitled to goods of a satisfactory quality. Producers, suppliers and importers are liable for - that is, responsible for - the products they sell. Death, personal injury - involving physical damage to a person - and damage to private property are covered under the act.

Enforcement of the act - that is, making sure the act is respected - is the job of the trading standards officer. Businesses need to monitor and control their produce to make sure they are fulfilling, or carrying out, all safety regulations.

A central part of the law is product liability, which means that any person who is injured or physically hurt by a defective product does not have to prove a manufacturer negligent - that is, at fault - before suing, or taking the manufacturer to court.

Exercise 64. Answer the questions.

1. What is WIPO? 2. When was the "Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization» signed and when did it enter into force? 3. Give the definition of the term “intellectual property”.      4. What is intellectual property divided into? 5. What does industrial property include? 6. What does copyright protect? 7. What does copyright protected work include? 8. What is the mission of WIPO? 9. What is WIPO's cooperation for development program closely interwoven with? 10. What is the difference between counterfeiting and piracy?   11. When may a company file a lawsuit? 12. What do most company websites include? 13. What is one of the most significant present-day tasks of WIPO? 14. Why do some critics give intellectual property a brush-off? 15. What is the Consumer Protection Act? 16. What is the job of the trading standards officer?

 

Exercise 65. Give Ukrainian equivalents.

To be signed, to enter into force, the origins go back to 1883, granted patent, copyright protected work, to complete a registration process, intellectual property (IP) crimes, to make unauthorized use, trademark infringement and piracy, to brake the copyright, to lead to a lawsuit, to pay damages or compensation, software patents, enforcement of the act, copyright holder.

Exercise 66. Give English equivalents.

Інтелектуальна власність, Всесвітня організація інтелектуальної власності, винахід, надавати ексклюзивне право, надавати захист патентних прав, подовжувати строк патенту, захищати моральні та матеріальні інтереси винахідника, дозвіл власника авторських прав, міжнародна співпраця, малі та середні підприємства, бракована та неякісна продукція, юридично мати право на, відповідальність за якість продукту.

 

Exercise 67 . Make sentences using one part from each column.

1. Patent	must read and agree to the terms	renewed regularly.
2.Willful trademark	protection gives a company the exclusive	to a lawsuit.
3. A granted	copyright cannot be used without	right to market a product.
4.Visitors to the website	patent must be	permission.
5. Material that is subject to	infringement may lead	and conditions.

Exercise 68. Complete the newspaper report with the words in the box. and then match the problems (a-c) with the offered solutions (I-III).

 

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